Golden Eagle: Conditions to boost All Saints’ Eve chances of an upset
All Saints’ Eve is an outsider for the $7.5m Golden Eagle but trainer John O’Shea believes she can play a big part in the star-studded race.
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Trainer John O’Shea hopes to use Saturday’s $7.5 million Golden Eagle as a testing ground for future Group 1 tilts for All Saints’ Eve and believes his mare gets the right conditions to make an impact on Rosehill’s big stage.
While TAB.com.au rate All Saints’ Eve as a $34 outsider for the 1500m Rosehill feature, the stakes-winning four-year-old ticks all the right boxes in the eyes of her trainer.
All Saints’ Eve is proven on wet tracks, she has two wins from as many starts and Rosehill is almost certain to be rated in the heavy range on the weekend.
And the Sacred Falls mare was one of the big winners of the barrier draw after she was allotted gate three at Tuesday’s event on Sydney Harbour.
“We are happy with the draw, happy with the rain and happy with the horse,” O’Shea said.
“To be fair we have been pre-empting wet ground for some time and that’s the way it has turned out in our favour.
“From barrier three we should get a nice run and you never go wrong when you are able to find the fence there.”
All Saints’ Eve was unplaced at her last visit to the races in the Group 3 Angst Stakes but chalked up the biggest win of her career in the start before that when winning the Group 3 Tibbie Stakes at Newcastle.
The Golden Eagle will be a big step up from those assignments with Group 1 winners Funstar, Alligator Blood and Colette all in the field alongside a string of emerging four-year-olds.
O’Shea was more than happy to test All Saints’ Eve against high quality opposition as he believes it will provide huge benefits for his mare going forward.
Talented mare All Saints' Eve storms home to win the Tibbie Stakes at @newcastleraces_ for @JohnOSheaRacing and @mcacajamez pic.twitter.com/Lpxo58WqD5
— Sky Racing (@SkyRacingAU) September 18, 2020
He hopes to use the lucrative feature as a test run for a Coolmore Classic tilt at the same track and distance in the autumn.
“When you run in these sort of races it tends to set you up going forward,” O’Shea said.
“There are lot of progressive horses in this race and you only need to look at last year to see what some of those horses went on to do.
“Look at Behemoth — not many would have predicted him winning two Group 1s in the next twelve months.
“This year it looks to be an even strong race with a couple of Group 1 winners already in Funstar, Alligator Blood and Colette.
“And there is a progressive horses like Criaderas. It’s a great race.”
Sam Clipperton will ride All Saints’ Eve as he looks to break his big race duck.
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Originally published as Golden Eagle: Conditions to boost All Saints’ Eve chances of an upset